"26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. 27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matt 10:26-28)

Friday, October 18, 2013

The Sweet Scroll Turned Bitter

The Sweet Scroll Turned
Bitter

Dear beloved, do you believe that the
Lord has imparted His mind and heart to prophets who are alive in the present
time? Who are they who have stood in the counsel of the Lord, and who have
perceived and heard His Word? Who has marked His Word, and heard it? These
are they who cause His people to hear His Words that they should then be turned
away from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. (Jer 23:18, 22)

Who are the prophets, not the false
prophets who proclaim peace, but the true prophets? Where are they? What are
they saying? What is the message of the Lord to us in our day? What does He see
when He looks down upon His people?

Yes, these prophets are alive. They
are appalled. They weep and mourn continually. They see the masses in
darkness. They see the regenerated people of God in slumber, deception,
carnality, apostasy…the Word of the Lord to these prophets is sweet to their
taste, but it has turned to gall in their stomach, for the Word is rejected and
trampled as they declare it. For those who shun evil have become a prey.
Truth cannot enter into the streets. This is the experience of true prophets
throughout history:

Jeremiah prayed, “O Lord, Thou knowest:
remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away
in Thy longsuffering: know that for Thy sake I have suffered rebuke. Thy Words
were found, and I did eat them; and Thy Word was unto me the JOY and REJOICING
of mine heart: for I am called by Thy Name, O LORD God of hosts. I sat not in
the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat ALONE because of Thy hand: for
Thou hast filled me with INDIGNATION. Why is my PAIN perpetual, and my wound
INCURABLE, which refuseth to be healed? Wilt Thou be altogether unto me as a
liar, and as waters that fail?” Therefore thus saith the LORD to him, “If
thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before Me: and
if thou TAKE FORTH THE PRECIOUS FROM THE VILE, thou shalt be as My mouth: let
them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them. And I will make thee unto
this people a fenced brazen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they
shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver
thee, saith the LORD”. (Jer 15:15-20)

The Lord said to Ezekiel, “Son of man,
eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.”
So he opened his mouth, and He caused him to eat that roll. And He said to Him,
“Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll
that I give thee”. Then he ate it; and it was in his mouth as honey for
sweetness. And He said unto him, “Son of man, go, get thee unto the house
of Israel, and speak with My Words unto them. For thou art not sent to a people
of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel; not to
many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst
understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto
thee. But the house of Israel WILL NOT HEARKEN unto thee; for they will not
hearken UNTO ME: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.
Behold I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong
against their foreheads. As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy
forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a
rebellious house.” Moreover the Lord said to him, “Son of man,
all My Words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with
thine ears and go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy
people, and speak unto them, and tell them, ‘thus saith the Lord GOD’; whether
they will hear, or whether they will forbear”. (Ez 3:1-11)

As the apostle John saw the visions of
Revelations, he went unto the angel, and asked for the little book. The angel
said unto him, “Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly
BITTER, but it shall be in thy mouth SWEET as honey”. And he took the
little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in his mouth
sweet as honey: and as soon as he had eaten it, his belly was bitter. And the
angel said unto him, “Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and
nations, and tongues, and kings”. (Rev 10:9-11)

The prophets who have stood in His counsel do
experience the unsealing of the Word of God, which commands for continual
Spiritual perfection, that is, the ongoing keeping of the faith in the
eternal Gospel which results in a purging of the conscience from dead
works to serve the living God (Heb 9:14).
Such a maintenance of watchfulness, zeal, labor, and all this by keeping
oneself in the love of God, is not an option, but a necessity for a worthy
standing before the judgment throne: covered in the righteousness of
Christ. O dear saints, if we are not progressively conformed to
Christ’s image, we are not going to make it! We cannot stand before
the Son of Man as we are: altogether lukewarm and in slumber! Furthermore,
these true prophets have seen from the unsealed Counsel of Scripture that one
truly can LOSE WHAT HE HAS ATTAINED. It is even
guaranteed! NOW the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in
the LATTER TIMES some SHALL DEPART FROM THE FAITH,
giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils (1 Tim 4:1) And
yet the vast majority of these sleeping virgins remain in a state of false
security. They trust in the doctrine of “eternal security”, but were they to
continue in their laxity, they would perish! A horrifying reality is that when
these people of God fail to comprehend the need to continue steadfast in the
faith, constantly abiding in the Vine, until the very end, watchful and, by the
Spirit, waiting for the hope of righteousness by faith (Gal 5:5), THEIR
FALSE BELIEF IN ETERNAL SECURITY WITH NO CONDITIONS OF ABIDING in CHRIST SEALS
THE MIND AND BLINDS THE HEART TO MUCH OF THE COUNSEL OF THE WORD!!! And
this is the state of far too many of God’s people now. And thus, the
prophets are appalled at what they see. For if they continue in this
deception, the Word of the Lord is unto them precept upon precept, precept upon
precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little;
that they mightgo, and fall backward, and be broken,
and snared, and taken. (Is 28:13)

The prophets are appalled. They
are as Daniel who fainted, was sick certain days; afterwards rose up, and did
the king’s business; and wasastonishedat the vision he had seen,
but none understood it (Dan 8:27). Their
eyes roam the earth at each “Christian” profession, formality, institution,
company, organization, structure…and they turn away in disgust, for these
well-meaning people of God do not understand the times. They do not understand
the fragility of their souls in their passivity. They do not understand the
judgments of the Lord. For they that forsake the law praise the wicked: but
such as keep the law contend with them. Evil men understand not judgment: but
they that seek the LORD understand all things. (Prov 28:4-5)

The prophets are appalled. For
the Lord says, “Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this
people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto
My Words, nor to My law, but rejected it.” (Jer 6:19)
The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected
the Word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them (Jer 8:9)?
Our Lord Jesus has said, “He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth not My
Words, hath One that judgeth him: the Word that I have spoken, the same shall
judge him in the last day.” (John 12:48)

“For the time will come when they will not endure
sound doctrine [the Word of God];
but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having
itching ears;” (2 Tim 4:3)

What specifically have the people
of God rejected from the Word of God? They have refused to heed the commands to
absolute surrender, constant abiding, laying hold of eternal life at the
present time until the end FOR SALVATION. This is the teaching of
Christ: “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax
cold. But he that shall endure TO THE END, the same shall be saved”
(Matt 24:12-13) For
as Jesus spoke, many believed on Him. Then Jesus said to the Jews who believed
on Him, “If ye continue in My Word, then ye are My disciples; and ye
shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free” (John 8:30-32).
Whoso keepeth His Word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know
we that we are in Him (1 John 2:5). May
we all thoroughly examine the teachings of Christ: remember the Parable of the
10 Virgins (keep the anointing; do not sleep), the Parable of the Sower (hold
fast the Word with patience), giving up all to be His disciple, counting the
cost, those who escape judgment have labored (fed the hungry/thirsty, given to
the poor, welcomed the lonely, visited the sick…), the Parable of the Wedding
Feast (keep His garment), the Parable of the Talents (be faithful with what we
have granted; do not be slothful), the Parable of the Vinedresser (receive the Son),
the Parable of the Prodigal Son (return when we go astray that we may be
forgiven), the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (forgive or be damned) every
branch IN HIM that bears no fruit is cut off, being ready to
stand before the Son of Man (constant prayerfulness and watchfulness)…No
man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the
kingdom of God (Luke 9:62)
Finally His commission to His disciples: All power is given unto Me in heaven
and in earth.Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:
and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matt 28:18-20) We
are to teach His people to observe ALL THINGS WHATSOVER HE HAS
COMMANDED US. For every scribe which is instructed unto the Kingdom of
heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of
his treasure things new and old, and the faithful and wise steward, whom his
lord shall make ruler over his household to give them their portion of meat in
due season, for blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall
find so doing (Matt 13:52, Luke 12:42-43). If
we love Him more than “these” (everything of the world), we will feed His
sheep! We will feed them the unsealed Counsel of the Lord, that is, we will
teach and proclaim what the Spirit has revealed from His Word to us in the
inner room.

This neglected but critical doctrine of
Scripture, namely, of keeping our faith constantly until the end, of always
keeping the garment of Christ’s righteousness by abiding in Him, is a doctrine
which is in accordance with GODLINESS. As we are faced with
this doctrine, our love for our Lord is tested. For only those who
hunger and thirst for righteousness, who cry out for the Holy Spirit’s filling
and outpouring, who crave the flesh and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ…will be
able to joyfully, yet with fear and trembling, accept these teachings of
Scripture. Is the Scripture sealed to you, dear one, because you are
not willing to fully surrender your carnal desires to Him?For the vast
majority of speakers are false prophets, false dreamers who heal the hurt of God’s
people slightly saying “peace, peace” when there is NO
PEACE (Jer 8:11). The Lord tells us that we shalt NOT hearken
the words of these prophets, or these dreamers who dream: for the Lord our
God PROVETH US, to know whether we LOVE THE LORD OUR GOD
WITH ALL OUR HEART AND WITH ALL OUR SOUL(Deut 13:3).
For His Word is very pure: therefore His servants love It (Ps 119:140) Jesus
said, “If a man love Me, he will keep My Words: and My Father will love
him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth Me
not keepeth not My sayings: and the Word which ye hear is not Mine, but the
Father’s which sent Me” (John 14:23-24) How
we must love His law, making it our meditation all the day. We must hate vain
thoughts and abhor lying, but His law we must love! (Ps 119:97, 113, 163)

Do you justify yourself saying, “No
believer is perfect. There is no way that I have to live like Christ and the
New Testament saints, truly, to enter the Kingdom of God. God is merciful. I
will at least barely miss the flames…” But remember that the saints
overcome the evil one by the blood of the Lamb, and by the Word of their
testimony; and they LOVED NOT THEIR LIVES UNTO DEATH (Rev 12:11). They
desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to
be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city (Heb 11:16). Mark
His Words, beloved, if we do not bear fruit, if we do not continue in His
goodness, we are going to be cut off, regardless of the righteousness that came
from out of us in the past because of our prior faith (John 15:2, Rom 11:22, Ez
3:20).

“16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield
yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of
sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?17 But God
be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart
that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 18 Being
then made free from sin, ye became the SERVANTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Rom 6:16-18)

The prophets are appalled because sound
doctrine has been destroyed among us, and we are going to be damned if the Lord
does not open up His Word to us. The Gospel alone is
the power of God for those who believe and KEEP on believing.
What astounding eternal security is to be found as we continue in the Gospel,
as we continue in His Word, as we abide and bear fruit; how He keeps us by His
own power as we trust Him! But this drifting, this coasting, this slumber…we
will not overcome! We will not be found worthy! The prophets are
appalled.

Sound doctrine is near to us, and
refreshing, and yet we have rejected it. For His doctrine shall drop as rain,
His speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and
as the showers upon the grass: because the Name of the Lord is published by His
saints: may we ascribe greatness unto our God! (Deut 32:1-3)
The Words of our Lord are the rest wherewith we may cause the weary to rest;
and this is the refreshing: yet we would NOT hear (Is 28:12).

But our Lord is commanding us now to repent
and to take heed to Him and His prophets who command us to keep believing and
laying hold of eternal life lest we be damned! For in the multitude of His
tender mercies towards His remant, they that erred in spirit SHALL COME
TO UNDERSTANDING, and they that murmured SHALL LEARN DOCTRINE (Is 29:24). O,
all things are possible beloved! For He gives us good doctrine and commands us
not to forsake His law (Prov 4:2) He tells us to HOLD FASTthe form of
sound words, which we have heard from the Scriptures, in faith and love which
is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed unto us, the Gospel, we
must keep by the Holy Spirit which dwelleth in us. (2 Tim 1:13-14) Till
Christ returns, we must give attendance to READING, to EXHORTATION,
to DOCTRINE (1 Tim 4:13) He
tells us to take heed to ourselves and our DOCTRINE, to CONTINUE in
them, for in doing this we shalt both SAVE ourselves, and them
that hear us (1 Tim 4:16). The
New Testament saints continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine (which
contained strong warnings against the real possibility of falling away from
Christ after having known Him) and fellowship, and the breaking of bread, and
in prayers.WHAT MAKES US THINK WE CAN MAKE IT WITHOUT THESE THINGS?!?

“Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of
Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both
the Father and the Son.” (2 John 9)

A faithful servant of the Lord, in this
day, labors in prayer, stands in the presence of the Lord to hear from Him His
mind and heart towards His people. O how they mourn in this evil day,
refusing to be comforted, until the Lord’s Covenant is fulfilled towards His
bride! Paul told Timothy that if he puts the brethren in remembrance
of these things, he should be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in
the words of faith and ofgood doctrine, whereunto
he had attained (1 Tim 4:6), to
let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially
they wholabour in the Word and doctrine (1 Tim 5:17), for
he had fully known Paul’s doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith,
longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, the deliverances
of the Lord in the midst of these (1 Tim 5:17, 2 Tim 3:10-11),
to preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove,
rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine (2 Tim 4:2), to
continue in the things which he had learned and had been assured of,
knowing of whom he had learned them; and that from a child he had known the
holy Scriptures, which are able to make him wise UNTO SALVATION through
faith which is in Christ Jesus, for all Scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect,
thoroughly furnished unto all good works (2 Tim 3:14-17).
Likewise Paul told Titus to hold fast the faithful Word as he
had been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both
the exhort and to convince the gainsayers (Tit 1:9).

“18 Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter
of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest;
let not the apple of thine eye cease. 19 Arise, cry out in
the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water
before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward Him for the life of
thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street.” (Lam 2:18-19)

My request to you, beloved: PLEASE
read the book “The Condescension of God” (available free online) which I believe is an unsealing of the
everlasting Word of God in our day through a humble prophet writing with the
gracious empowering of the Holy Spirit (yes, there are other prophets alive
with the same message). It is an awe-striking work, proclaiming nothing new,
but simply bringing out hidden and old treasures of the Word, and is, I am
assured, the most blessed proclamation of sound doctrine in the past several
centuries (yes, before the Lord, I do mean to say this). If you have any desire
at all to continue in the Gospel, to abide in our Lord, to overcome, to be
counted worthy…

“And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them:
and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking,
saith the Lord.” (Jer 23:4)

“And I will give you pastors according to Mine heart,
which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” (Jer 3:15)

About Me

In the Scriptures the Shepherd’s eternal Covenant is a cutting out of His people from all that is devoted to destruction as they approach Him through His flesh and by His blood, a passing through of God’s presence among His people just as the smoking oven and flaming torch passed through the torn pieces of flesh that Abraham offered (Gen 15:12-16), the binding or marriage of two parties, that is, the reconciliation of Christ and His church, and the creation of a new kingdom and people, whose souls are perfected. We were dead in trespasses and sins, just as Abraham fell into a deep sleep and great terror and darkness came upon him, and God has established His Covenant by the strength of His own righteous arm (Eph 2:1, Gen 15:12).